Generally, a rotary solenoid having a reciprocating property is used for various two-position switching purposes such as switching of a conveying path for sorting banknotes or switching of an optical path of an optical device. A rotary solenoid used for such a switching purpose often needs to provide fast operations (high-speed processing) and a reduction in size (thickness) as well as reliability in operation which are contradictory performances. Generally, a driving device is connected to the rotary solenoid of this type and a driving pulse to which a predetermined driving voltage is set is supplied to the rotary solenoid whereby drive control for two-position switching is performed.
Conventionally, a drive control method for use in a rotary solenoid disclosed in Patent Document 1 as proposed by the present applicant is known as a drive control method for controlling driving of such a rotary solenoid. This drive control method controls driving of a rotary solenoid including a magnet rotor portion in which a magnet portion having at least a pair of different poles is provided in a shaft, a stator portion having at least a pair of yokes disposed to be fixed to a position opposing an outer circumferential surface of the magnet portion, a coil unit portion that generates magnetic poles in the yoke with aid of a coil wound around a coil bobbin, an engagement portion formed such that a portion of the magnet portion protrudes in a radial direction so as to be positioned between the pair of yokes and be displaced between edges in a circumferential direction and that a width in the circumferential direction corresponds to a rotation range, and a pair of restricting portions that restricts the position of the engagement portion with the aid of the edges or by making contact with the engagement portion near the edges. In this drive control method, after a driving voltage is applied to the coil and the magnet rotor portion collides with the engagement portion formed to correspond to the rotation range, bouncing decays, and application of the driving voltage is canceled at a timing at which behavior is stabilized.